Integrated Assessment Models of the Food, Energy, and Water Nexus: A Review and an Outline of Research Needs

Abstract

Food, energy, and water (FEW) systems play a fundamental role in determining societal health and economic well-being. However, current and expected changes in climate, population, and land use place these systems under considerable stress. To improve policies that target these challenges, this review highlights the need for integrating biophysical and economic models of the FEW nexus. We discuss advancements in modeling individual components that comprise this system and outline fundamental research needs for these individual areas as well as for model integration. Though great strides have been made in individual and integrated modeling, we nevertheless find a considerable need for improved integration of economic decision-making with biophysical models. We also highlight a need for improved model validation.

Nexusing Charcoal in South Mozambique: A Proposal To Integrate the Nexus Charcoal-Food-Water Analysis With a Participatory Analytical and Systemic Tool

“…More than improve modeling techniques (which has its merit, Kling et al, 2017;Veldhuis and Yang, 2017), arguably it is necessary to promote participation and dialogue (e.g., Mirzabaev et al, 2015;Howartha and Monasterolo, 2016;Kling et al, 2017;Veldhuis and Yang, 2017). Sometimes under other denominations, like "co-decision" (Veldhuis and Yang, 2017) or "transdisciplinary [.…”

“…. ] knowledge co-production" (Kling et al, 2017) the purpose is to Promote the "active engagement of stakeholders from different sectors in all the phases of knowledge development to acquire a clearer picture of their needs and expertise in the decision making process" (Howartha and Monasterolo, 2016). Therefore.…”

“…Remarkably, such deterministic and modular Nexus framework, facilitates mathematical modeling of systems as resources, i.e., (sources of) water, (forms of) energy, and (specific) food crops. Consequently, it is possible to model and quantify resource demand, costs and trends for each isolated resource/system, as well as, the dynamic interaction between different resource/system, i.e., how a stress in one Nexus system can create pressures on the other systems (Gulati et al, 2013;Kling et al, 2017). Formally, these models link different knowledge sets (models) to support evidence-based adaptive strategies (Scott et al, 2015), identify and minimize trade-offs (Pittock et al, 2015;Kurian, 2017), and maximize synergies, efficiency, while reduce risks and improve resource governance (FAO, 2014;Gallagher et al, 2016).…”

“…The most relevant Nexus modeling drawbacks include the lack of (Kaddoura and El Khatib, 2017;Kling et al, 2017;Liu et al, 2017): data in quantity, quality and consistency; systematic identification, analysis and exploration of synergies, trade-offs and impacts simultaneously across scales and levels of detail; aggregation methods "sensitive" to local specificities; incorporation of human and systems adaptation and behavior; methods to evaluate and compare models. Another critique of the Nexus refers to the existence of institutional and communication barriers across sectors and disciplines that hinder dramatically the applicability in real institutional settings Endo et al, 2015;Leck et al, 2015;Wichelns, 2017).…”

The Nexus Concept Integrating Energy and Resource Efficiency for Policy Assessments: A Comparative Approach from Three Cases

“…Impact assessments for policy support in the areas of energy, food, the sustainable management of natural resources (e.g., water), the use of biomass, and climate change are partly based on projections delivered by models. Integrated assessment modelling approaches usually have a limited focus on these topics, and current approaches cannot adequately take into account these different contexts [1]. Moreover [1] states that "there is little clarity on how models should be evaluated and compared, both with individual disciplines and as components of larger integrated assessment modelling".…”